Proposed charter school rejected, for now, by state

A proposed charter school in Davidson County has been initially rejected by state officials, a fact board members did not reveal at an informational meeting for prospective parents.

BY NASH DUNNThe Dispatch

A proposed charter school in Davidson County has been initially rejected by state officials, a fact board members did not reveal at an informational meeting for prospective parents.Records show the application for Davidson Charter Academy was rejected in early April for being incomplete.However, the board, which plans to appeal the decision, still held the school's first informational meeting Tuesday night, drawing a crowd of about 30 people. Despite specific inquiries from The Dispatch days before the meeting and from prospective parents at the meeting, the board continued to say the application was being reviewed and had good chances of being approved.Erin Steenwyk, chairwoman of the board applying for the charter, said they scheduled the community meeting before they were informed of the decision. She said the board did not inform attendees because it might have "muddied the waters more than they are."The Office of Charter Schools received the school's application in March, according to a letter from Thomas Miller, education consultant with the office. After an initial screening that month, Davidson Charter Academy's application was found to be complete. However, the office completed an additional screening April 1 and found that the application omitted an academic calendar. In addition, the office found differences in financial information submitted in the board's electronic application, filed with the state, and hard copies, filed with local school boards, according to the letter."Since applications must be complete to be considered, your application will not be reviewed by the Public Charter School Advisory Council," according to the letter.The council, which makes recommendations to the N.C. State Board of Education, voted last week to form an appeals subcommittee for Davidson Charter Academy and 26 other proposed charters that were rejected for being incomplete.Steenwyk said the board plans to appeal by next week."Personally, I feel like we are in the same position, still waiting for the review," Steenwyk said. "We are no further along than we were, and we are still waiting to hear if they are going to review our application."As for the missing pieces of the proposed school's application, Steenwyk said she was certain they included an academic calendar."That was the last piece we looked at to make sure it was accurate and correct," Steenwyk said.Steenwyk said the differences in financial information submitted in the electronic and hard copies of the application resulted from a clerical error.Joel Medley, director of the Office of Charter Schools, said the appeals subcommittee will meet April 25 to review any appeals that may come in from applicants deemed incomplete.Davidson Charter Academy, which would eventually house grades K-8, would use state, local and federal funding allocations to the county's three school systems to operate.If approved, it would be the first charter school in Davidson County and the only nontraditional public school.Nash Dunn can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 227, or at nash.dunn@the-dispatch.com.

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